Power conversion efficiency enhancement of organic solar cells by addition of gold nanoparticles

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics, Turkey

Approval Date: 2012

Student: DUYGU KOZANOĞLU

Co-Supervisor: RAŞİT TURAN, EMREN NALBANT ESENTÜRK

Abstract:

In the first part of the study, power conversion efficiency enhancement of organic solar cells by addition of gold nanorods and gold nanostars into PEDOT: PSS (Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate)) layer was investigated. Efficiency of each sample set has been characterized by measuring current density-voltage characteristics. The best efficiencies obtained during this study are 2.88 % and 2.54 % by addition of gold nanostars and nanorods, respectively. The increase in PCEs is notable when these values are compared with the ones (1.67 %) obtained with a reference device which is prepared without adding any gold nanoparticles under the same conditions. In the second part of the study, branched gold nanoparticles were succesfully grown directly on different types of surfaces such as glass, silicon wafer, and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass with a simple solution-based method in order to utilize them for further applications.